Education Studies

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You will tailor your own education coursework with the support of faculty, and your studies will be fully integrated with Hamilton's innovative liberal arts curriculum. Local schools will become your classroom because you will put in at least 75 hours of fieldwork there.

About the Minor

One of the most revealing indicators of a college’s educational quality is the number of educators it produces: It's no coincidence that education consistently ranks as one of the top fields in which Hamilton graduates begin their careers. Many teach in private schools or work in volunteer teaching corps; others advance to graduate study in education.

I wanted to find a small school in order to make meaningful connections with professors, and the education faculty has exceeded my expectations. My Hamilton experience would not have been the same without them.

Meredyth Ohringer ’17 —
education studies minor, sociology major

A member of Hamilton’s Education Studies Program Committee will help each education minor determine a course of study that fits his or her interests. When they’re in the field, students will observe teachers, tutor and coach, study with administrators and policymakers, plan enrichment programs, work in resource rooms and more.

Arjun Shankar

A Sampling of Courses

Prepares students to perform as ESOL tutors by providing discussion of the practical approaches, methods and techniques tutors use in classroom settings. Using a communicative curricula that emphasizes function over form, this course addresses language teaching methods, interactive strategies for integrated learning for non-native speakers or English language learners and limited English proficient students. Discussion of the concept of culture helps tutors recognize the influence of culture on patterns of thinking and behaving, and language acquisition.

What is the difference between learning from technology and learning with technology? This course explores the role of technology in learning and critically analyzes the cognitive, social, political, and logistical aspects of education technology in the K-12 public school setting. Students will research and develop a learning model incorporating technology in a proposal for a specific grade range in a public school system of the future. Hands-on experiences critically assessing technology in constructivist based learning are required. Oral Presentations.

Explores the education landscape in New Orleans, Louisiana during the years since Hurricane Katrina through on-site interviews and filmmaking. Course involves travel to the city for one week during spring recess. Students engage in approximately 14 pre- and post-travel training and discussion sessions as well as one week of interviewing and filmmaking in New Orleans. Focus on developing empathy through contact with and representations of subjects. May be repeated once for credit.

Examines education as a site to analyze shifting cultural, political, and economic processes. The course will use the concept of curiosity as a fulcrum by which to dig into these debates: who can be curious, about what, when, and why? What are the economic, political, and social processes that enable or constrain curiosity for different populations? Students will create podcasts based on fieldwork across Hamilton’s campus. They will use ethnographic techniques to identify the manifestations of curiosity while learning the tenants of rapport building, ethics, and research-based narrative.

Methods of Tutoring English to Speakers of Other Languages
201F

Prepares students to perform as ESOL tutors by providing discussion of the practical approaches, methods and techniques tutors use in classroom settings. Using a communicative curricula that emphasizes function over form, this course addresses language teaching methods, interactive strategies for integrated learning for non-native speakers or English language learners and limited English proficient students. Discussion of the concept of culture helps tutors recognize the influence of culture on patterns of thinking and behaving, and language acquisition.

Technology in Education: Issues and Opportunities
250

What is the difference between learning from technology and learning with technology? This course explores the role of technology in learning and critically analyzes the cognitive, social, political, and logistical aspects of education technology in the K-12 public school setting. Students will research and develop a learning model incorporating technology in a proposal for a specific grade range in a public school system of the future. Hands-on experiences critically assessing technology in constructivist based learning are required. Oral Presentations.

Experiencing Empathy
297S

Explores the education landscape in New Orleans, Louisiana during the years since Hurricane Katrina through on-site interviews and filmmaking. Course involves travel to the city for one week during spring recess. Students engage in approximately 14 pre- and post-travel training and discussion sessions as well as one week of interviewing and filmmaking in New Orleans. Focus on developing empathy through contact with and representations of subjects. May be repeated once for credit.

Curiosity: An Ethnographic Approach
308S

Examines education as a site to analyze shifting cultural, political, and economic processes. The course will use the concept of curiosity as a fulcrum by which to dig into these debates: who can be curious, about what, when, and why? What are the economic, political, and social processes that enable or constrain curiosity for different populations? Students will create podcasts based on fieldwork across Hamilton’s campus. They will use ethnographic techniques to identify the manifestations of curiosity while learning the tenants of rapport building, ethics, and research-based narrative.